As I sit and watch Tom Brady pick apart the Los Angeles Chargers, I found it interesting what the announcers had to say. They started by saying he arrived at the stadium almost five hours before kickoff to prepare, followed by the fact that he had his throwing coach out the week before as a “tune-up” on his throwing mechanics. What, Tom Brady needs a “throwing coach?” He’s already won five Super Bowls. Why would he continue to train on the basics? 

If you are able to do some research, you will notice how athletes at the professional level continue to train fundamentals. Hopefully, this article gives you some thoughts into how you, your son or daughter can continue to train to reach your highest potential.

If you have ever had the opportunity to watch professional athletes practice or train, you will notice a lot of the time is just spent on fundamentals. You can see golfers hitting ball after ball on the driving range, each with a purpose. You can see basketball players taking countless shots from different spots on the floor and maybe a shortstop fielding ground ball after ground ball. You may come to notice that most of these drills aren’t earth shattering. They’re not shock and awe drills. They’re not working on 50 different things within one drill. They are simply repeating good fundamentals over and over and over.

In hockey, especially at the younger level, for some reason we think the more difficult or crazy the drill has to be the better. It doesn’t do much good for me to jump over cones and do a flip in the air if I struggle to catch a backhand pass. Yes, it may not look as “cool” or “challenging,” but every PeeWee is not beyond the fundamentals. If doing 11 different hitting drills off a tee is good enough for Albert Pujols, then it’s good enough for everyone.  

When we look at skating specifically, that is essentially what we are trying to do. We are either trying to build and develop good fundamentals or “fine-tune” fundamentals.  In today’s day and age, we want everything right now. Being a good skater (or being good at anything) takes time. It takes time to develop good habits. It takes time get a skater lower, get stronger on your edges, become more agile and efficient. There are no short-cuts. 

When you see an older skater that is a good skater, he or she has already built that strong foundation of fundamentals. When working with older skaters, it is always easier to teach them more difficult skills if they have a solid foundation. Once a skater has a solid foundation, it is equally important to continue to grow and build off what a skater already possesses. It’s no different than any person in great shape. It’s the continual execution of good habits (diet and exercise) that will keep you in great shape.  

That is the one thing when I hear parents say, “they’re already good skaters, they’re already good shooters, they don’t need to work on that.” To continue to grow and improve, you always need to work. I encourage you to get to a high level practice and watch if you can. It is why NHL players come out before and after practice to work on their skills. One guy may take a set of one-timers, and then move a few feet over and take another set. Repeat, repeat, repeat. We all love to watch the games, but practice is where we see what is being taught and what skills are being worked on. 

Good luck.

Andy Ness is the head skating and skill coach for the Minnesota Wild. He has also been an assistant skating instructor for the New Jersey Devils, the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s hockey teams and the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team.